AAF says progress being made on wildfire

The wet and cool weather is helping firefighters make great progress on the Fort McMurray wildfires.

That’s according to Alberta Agriculture and Forestry which adds they and the RMWB are continuing to work on extinguishing smoldering ground fires in the forested areas.

Conditions will continue to be smokey in the Forest McMurray Forest Area due to areas of smouldering ground fire, but those ground fires do not pose a threat to the community.

The size of the fire is estimated to be 581,695 hectares, including Saskatchewan. Firefighters and heavy equipment continued to make steady progress and over 550 kilometres of dozer guard has been completed.

A fire ban is still in effect for portions of northeastern Alberta and the Fort McMurray Forest Area. The fire ban applies to Alberta’s Forest Protection Area in the Fort McMurray Forest Area and portions of the Lac La Biche Forest Area.